Holdfast-nail.



' u. GLSWEENEY.

7 I 1917. 1,247,178. Patented Nov. 20, 1917;.

ULYSSES'G. SlWEENEY, OF CUTLER, CALIFORNIA.

HoLDnAsT-NA IL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 20, 191 *7.

Application filed May 8, 1917. Serial No. 167,213.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ULYssEs G. SWEENEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cutler, in the county of Tulare and State of California, have invented anew and useful Holdfast-Nail, of which the following is a specification. v i

The device forming the subject matter of this application is a nail, including a threaded shank, and adapted to be driven by hammer blows, the structure combining the advantages of a common nail and a screw.

The invention aims to provide novel means whereby the ends of the head of the nail will constitute clenching prongs, adapted to engage the material which is entered by the nail, to prevent the nail from rotating after it has been driven.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction"hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:-

Figure 1 shows in side elevation,-anail constructed in accordance with the present invention, the same being mounted in a piece of material, the nail being in the condition which it will assume after it has been driven to aseat, and before the clenching'prongs have been embedded in the material;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the nail,

wherein the nail is viewed at right angles to the showing of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan of the nail; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the clenching prongs embedded in the 'material;

Fig. 5 is an isometric sectional perspective, showing so much of the nail as lies between the lines aa and b-b of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an isometric sectional perspective, showing so much of the nail as lies between the lines b?) and cc of Fig. '1';

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view,

the purpose of which is to point out certain of the advantages incident to the nail forming the subject matter of this application, Fig. 7 depicting a nail differing in form from that shown in Fig. 1.

The nail forming the subject matter of the material.

this application is of course made of metal The nail includes a head denoted generally by the numeral 4. When the head 4 is viewed in top plan, as shown in Fig. 3, the head is of lens shape, and when the head is viewedin side elevation, as in Fig. 1, the head is also of lens shape. The construction of the head is such that, at the ends thereof, bendable clenching prongs 5 are fashioned. Y

The nail is driven into the material 6 in the usual way, until the nail assumes the position of Fig. 1, under which circumstances, the prongs 5 will .-be spaced from Since the prongs 5 are spaced from the material, when the parts are arranged as shown in Fig. 1, the prongs may be turned downwardly, by a hammer blow,

and be made to enter the material 6, sub-' stantially at right angles to the outer sur-' face 7 of the material, without crushing the material unduly. Further, since the outer surface of the head 4 of the nail is convex, a hammer' blow, applied, for instance, at the point 8 of Fig. 1, tends to turn the prongs 5 inwardly, to enter the material 6.

" After the nail has been driven, as shown in face 7 of the material 6, as shown in Fig. 1,

before the prongs 5 are turned inwardly, there is no crushing of the material when the prongs 5 enter the same. In Fig. 7, there appears a diagram showing an old form of nail wherein this point is more clearly brought out: In Fig. 7, the material appears at 15 and-the numeral 16 indicates the shank of a nail having a common T- shaped head 17, the ends 18 of whichlie flat against the outer surface of the material 15. It will be obvious from Fig. 7 the ends 18 are bent inwardly, the material will be crushed, and a recess 19 will appear in the material 15, beyond the end of the head 17. This is undesirable for two reasons. First, the hold of the-bent end 20 of that whenthe head 17 on the material 15 is decreased,

and, further, an objectionable recess, as shown at 19 appears beyond the contour of thehead 17 Comparing Fig. 7 with Fig. 4,

it will be obvious that no opening or recess,

corresponding to the recess 19 exists in the material 6, when the device forming the subject matter of this application is used.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is i a A nail including a threaded shank having a transverse head, the head appearing tapered toward its ends, when viewed in top plan, and appearing tapered toward its ends, when viewed in side elevation, to form bendable clenching prongs at the ends of the head.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aifixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ULYSSES G. SWEENEY. Witnesses R. H. ANDREWs, J R. LEDBETTER. 

